Marina
by JustYourAverageRavenclaw
Summary: Marina has a past, one she never knew existed. Will her father unknowingly spark his daughter's curiosity about just who she is?
1. Chapter 1

The sparkling sand lay like crushed diamonds beneath my flying feet. Breaking waves rushed onto the shore, not quite reaching me . I ran into the heart of a crashing wave, diving headlong into the water. The water was silky smooth against my skin, and the waves tumbled above me as I swam. Then, suddenly, the waves began to shove me about and I felt as though someone was shaking me. I heard a soft, gentle voice pleading,

"Mari! Mari, please wake up. You'll be in big trouble with Father if you don't. "

My eyes flew open, revealing a pair of sky blue eyes staring into my own. I shrieked, jumping back. My ten- year- old sister, Anne, shrieked as well, nearly falling off the bed.

"Don't do that!" I said, reaching over to help her up. "You scared me half to death!"

"Well, you wouldn't wake up, and it's already past noon. I had to do something."

I looked at my sister, small and slight, standing at the side of the bed, holding my worn brown dress out to me."It's alright," I told her, standing and stretching. "Still, I wish you had waited a few minutes. I was having a wonderful dream. It felt so real."

I slipped my rough woolen shift over my head, put my dress on over that, and began helping Anne braid her long blonde hair.

"Your hair almost reaches your knees now." I commented, brushing out a particularly troublesome knot.

"Yes," Anne said, sounding pleased. "It's not nearly as long as yours, though."

That was true. My hair, when loose, was so long that it brushed my ankles.

Suddenly the door flew open and Father came sauntering in. He had been out early, making sure his fishing boat, the _Explorer, _was well stocked. He and his crew were going on an expedition out to sea, for the waters near the shore were already stripped of nearly all of its fish.

A burly, muscular man with a wild beard and crinkly blue eyes, Father had a natural, commanding air about him which was perfect for captaining a large ship.

"Hello Father,"cried Anne pulling herself away from me and flinging herself at the tall figure in the doorway. "Why are you home so early?"

Father laughed, peeling her away from his waist.

"Hello to you too, little one. I just came home to see if you girls were up. I have something I want to show you down at the harbor. One of the men found it tangled in the netting."

" When can we go see it?" I asked, curious.

"We can go right now, if you want. "


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, I just figured out how to add author's notes. Here it is:

**A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took so long to post, I had to work out a couple of details. Not to worry, it should be okay. Please review and tell me what you thought and what you think should happen next! Oh, and by the way, I do accept anonymous reviews. **

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Anne chattered a mile a minute the whole way down to the harbor. She skipped ahead of Father and I, calling back guesses to Father.

"Is it a baby seal?"

Father laughed. "Guess again!"

"A shark?"

"Not even close!"

"Um... sunken treasure?"

I noticed that Anne did not seem too far off of her mark this time. Father's eyes were unfathomable as he answered, slowly, "No....Not sunken treasure..."

Anne, hearing the difference in Father's reply, stopped skipping and slowed down to walk by his side. She and I glanced at each other, our eyes full of unspoken questions that neither of us could answer.

Soon the harbor, and the _Explorer,_ were in sight, and Father snapped out of his odd silence. We made our way down the wooden dock and climbed up the gangplank of the huge ship. Father led the way to his quarters, a small cabin whose doors opened onto the deck.

Father's room was small, with very little furniture. The furniture that was there, just a writing desk and a chair, was bolted to the floor, the drawers of the desk tied shut with twine. A large hammock swung from the ceiling, and a map of the Atlantic sea and its surrounding countries occupied most of the west wall.

Father crossed to the desk in four long strides and untied the string on one of the drawers.

He withdrew a small bundle wrapped in linen. Anne and I crept forward, waiting for him to untie it. Father undid the knot in one easy tug, and the cloth fell away. What lay in his palm was something so beautiful that I heard myself gasp, just as Anne did.

It was a necklace, a thin, intricately wrought chain with tiny charms hanging from it. The charms looked to be made of pearl, shimmering slightly in the light shining from the oil lamp hanging above our heads. The charms were little sea creatures, fish and seahorses and sea urchins. They were so well carved, it looked as though they were real. The most beautiful one, though was a large heart directly in the middle of the chain. It was carved out of pearl, as well, and was inlaid with shimmering fire red coral.

I sensed it when Anne drew back, finished inspecting the necklace, but I could not tear my eyes away from it. I seemed unable to move, and, shockingly, I started to hear distant singing, lovely and melancholy at the same time. The room started to spin, and I finally looked up to see Anne and Father looking at me with concern. I blinked, and everything came into slightly better focus.

"Mari, are you alright?" Father asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just got a little dizzy, that's all. Father?" I said, looking up at him, "May I keep the necklace? Please?"

"Well.... Alright. You may keep the necklace. But put it in a safe place." Father smiled at me and wrapped it back up in the linen.

"Thank you, Father." I said, hugging him.

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**So what did you think? Remember to review! **

**-E.G.**

**p.s: Thanks to 19answers for reviewing!**


	3. Chapter 3

LATER THAT NIGHT...

Anne and I were getting ready for bed. Father was already asleep, his snores thundering through the house. I had tucked the necklace into a small wooden box for safekeeping, but now I took it out again. I was careful about holding it; it felt as though direct contact would not be best, considering the way I'd been...hypnotized earlier. And that was just from looking at the thing!

I held the necklace in the palm of my hand, nestled in the cloth. I was careful not to look too long at it. Anne was watching me. I glanced at her, not meeting her eyes as I whispered,

"Anne, can you...can you just look at this, and... and just stare really hard? Do you feel anything? Dizziness, maybe?"

Anne did as I asked. She stared at the necklace, not looking up for a few minutes. Soon, though, she began to fidget.

"Um, Mari? I don't feel anything. Why? Did you?"

I hesitated. I was not sure whether to tell her or not. I decided to go with the latter; the less she knew, the better, in my opinion. Even I didn't know what was going on...

"No, I must have imagined it. Locked my knees, or something of that sort. Thanks, Anne."

She smiled. "You're welcome, Mari. Good night."

"Good night, Anne." I whispered.

I lay there in the dark, staring up at the ceiling, for a few minutes until I was sure she was asleep. Then I slowly rolled over, being careful not to disturb her, and reached under the bed. I pulled out my old rag doll, Lettie. I hugged her close, feeling, however fleetingly, like the small child I used to be, not the girl of 16 that I was now.

I realized that, even if I did not realize it consciously, I was scared. I only turned to Lettie for comfort when I was upset.

It was the necklace. It seemed to only affect me, Anne didn't have a problem with it. I felt foolish for even thinking about it, but still, I had a nagging thought in the back of my head. What if it wasn't the necklace? _What if it was me? _

That theory sounded more likely. After all, I was already different than Anne or Father, in looks at least. I'd never really thought about it, but we did not look the least bit related. Anne and Father both have slightly ruddy complexions, blonde hair, and blue eyes, although the color of the blue varies. I, however, am so pale I look almost white, and have black hair and deep green eyes. Yes, I was the odd one out.

And I was going to find out why.

**So what did you think? I'll take any criticism you might have, as long as it's **_**constructive. **_

**No put downs, please. Well, anyway, thanks for reading this in the first place, it's my first fan fiction , and not very good... :)**

**-E.G. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks so much for your reviews, I'm so glad you like the story! **

**And now, on to the main event...**

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The next few nights passed in much the same fashion, with me awake half the night, worry eating a hole in my stomach. I had hit a brick wall, though. I just could not figure out why I was so different than everyone else, or why that necklace affected me so much.

Every morning, Father and Anne would ask how I had slept, and though I hated to lie to them, I had to reply "Fine, Thanks."

I think Father saw through my charade, or at least partly. One night, while Anne was out gathering more wood from our woodpile, he said, looking at me with concern,

"Mari, are you sure you're alright? I don't think you're getting enough sleep. Is something wrong?"

I glanced down at the mug of tea I was holding. "No.... I'm fine, Father."

I hesitated, considering whether to tell him of my dream or not. For the dream, the one I had been having when Anne had woken me up that fateful day when I first saw the necklace, had been reoocurring. No, I would handle this myself.

"Really, I'm fine." I said, when he looked skeptical.

"Well," he said, slightly mollified, "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Right." I whispered.

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**Hey everyone, thanks for your reviws. I'm sorry this chapter is so short, I'm kind of stuck. If you have any ideas on how to proceed, feel free to let me know!**

**- E.G. **


	5. Chapter 5

I was running on the sand again. I still marveled at how it seemed to shimmer under my feet, but I realized that something was different. I was strangely impatient, even in a dream. I was waiting for the point when I would dive into the water. It seemed to take forever to reach the edge of the waves, but that was because I knew what was going to happen. It did not appear to be an impulse anymore.

Finally, I got far enough along the shore where I could throw myself into the watery depths. The water felt strangely warm, a fact I had never noticed before. I passed it off as another oddity of this dream.

As I swam deeper into the water, reveling in its silkiness, some part of my sleeping mind recognized that I should have woken up by now. And then, I heard a sound that caused me to jerk to a stop in the dream ocean.

The singing. It was back, and now in my dreams! I heard it even more clearly than when I looked at the necklace, and I sensed that I would find the person who seemed so sad if I just swam far enough.

I followed the melancholy sound, wondering at what could make the woman- I had decided that it was a woman singing, it didn't sound right for a man- sound so hopelessly sad. It seemed to pierce right through to my heart, and I felt tears prick my eyes. I swam even harder, kicking my legs and paddling with my arms as fast and as hard as I could. The sound swirled around me, growing louder, pounding my eardrums until I was sure I was where the woman was.

I was facing a large coral reef, which had many large openings in its side. I swam backwards a bit, and I realized that the openings formed a sort of doorway and a window. This dream was amazing me.

I swam very slowly up to the window-opening. I peeked inside, just a little bit. What I saw shocked me.

A beautiful mermaid floated (**maybe it's stood)** next to a small bed that looked to be made out of a clam shell. She was hugging something to her chest, and on closer inspection, it looked like a small child's dress, made out of seaweed. Tears, which were a bit lighter blue than the water around her, streamed from her eyes and tangled in her black hair as she sang the horribly sad song that had been haunting me. I sucked in a breath-my dream body did not seem to discern between water and air. The mermaid's singing broke off abruptly, and she gasped, looking up. Her eyes, the most brilliant green I had ever seen, met mine.

I jerked bolt upright in bed, nearly tumbling to the floor. My breathing started turning into sobs, and tears coursed down my cheeks. My common sense, which seemed to have hidden somewhere in the corners of my mind, suddenly decided to speak up. _Why was I crying?!? _There was absolutely no reason to cry, but I suddenly felt as if I were that woman… that mermaid, grief tearing through my body.

My loud sobs woke Father and Anne, of course. Father was at my side in an instant, rubbing my back reassuringly. I sobbed into his shoulder, soaking his nightshirt. Anne hovered by my side, patting my hand awkwardly but sweetly, murmuring, "What's the matter, Mari? What is wrong?"

And right then and there, I decided to tell them. Tell them everything. I couldn't keep this bottled up forever, and I really needed help. I sat up, trying to stifle my sobs. Once I was back in control, somewhat, I wiped the tears from my cheeks and took a shaky breath.

"Um, Father? Anne? Can I… tell you something?" They nodded. "All right… I should start at the beginning, I suppose. Do you remember, Father, the day you showed us that necklace? Remember how odd I had been acting?"

He spoke up. "Yes. You were looking at it, and then you started swaying back and forth and it looked as if you were going to faint."

"Yes, well, I found that, oddly, looking at the necklace for too long made me feel dizzy, and then…. Then I heard the singing. It seemed to come from nowhere. It was so beautiful, but it was sad at the same time. It scared me, but I kept it to myself."

I glanced up at them, scared at what I would see in their faces. Father looked slightly thunderstruck, but Anne did not look very shocked.

"I knew there was something wrong. You were acting odd all day, and then that night, when you asked me to look at that necklace, that confirmed it. I just didn't say anything but I don't know why… I'm sorry, Mari.'

"It's okay, Anne. I didn't tell you anything, so we're kind of even."

"Wait. What in the world does this have to do with why you were crying?" Father asked me, confusion etched into his face.

"Well, I've been having this dream. The same dream, every night. I'm running on the beach, and then I dive into the ocean. That is about the time that I wake up, but tonight I didn't. I just kept swimming, and then I heard the singing again, like I do when I look at the necklace. I followed it, and then I found this home, dug into a coral reef. I knew it was trespassing, but I looked into the window. There was a woman, a… a mermaid. She was singing, and tears were falling off of her cheeks and into the water. She was holding a dress made of seaweed, which looked as if it was made for a small child." I broke off.

Father whispered, "What did this woman look like?"

"She was beautiful. She had brilliant green eyes and black… hair…" I trailed off, my eyes widening as a new thought hit me. "I've seen her before," I stated, suddenly remembering. "I don't know where, or why, but she is familiar to me." And then I suddenly remembered my resolve to find out who I was, really. I knew why I was so different. I looked to Father. "I'm not your daughter, am I?"

His eyes met mine. He seemed to be warring with himself, deciding something. And then he whispered,

"No."

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**Sorry it took so long to get this up, I feel really bad. We had a virus on our computer, and we had to do this huge research report for English, and blah blah blah….**

**I know I don't really have an excuse, so just please try to refrain from pelting me with rotted fruit. :D**

**Oooooohhh look at the pretty green button! I want to click it! Clickety click!**


	6. Author's note

**A/N:**

Hey just wanted to let everyone know two new things:

A) I Have a poll going on my profile if you want to vote

B) I am now taking commissions for stories and one shots if you want one. PM me :)

Thanks,

FBD


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